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ExecuDork posted:my wife is going to tell me to lower it. She is firmly of the opinion that a seat should be so low both feet can be nearly flat on the ground when stopped, the bike perfectly upright not leaning to either side. this is impossibly wrong
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Sep 20, 2020 05:34
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Dude could be rocking an Electra. Maybe the cool Tiger Shark one painted up like a Flying Tigers P-40. But he probably isn't and ya she's wrong.
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Sep 20, 2020 05:52
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There is a pretty narrow range of ideal saddle height and it definitely has nothing do with being able to put your feet on the ground. You don't want your knees fully extending either. It's something like 25-30 degrees of bend you're shooting for. I've noticed that when my saddle is too high i get a lot of discomfort and feel like i need to angle it down. I'll also get some twinges in my right hamstring (p sure my right leg is slightly shorter than the left so it's extended farther). This was kind of a recent thing i figured out- wound up going just a touch lower, like 2-3mm? and suddenly i'm a lot more comfortable.
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Sep 20, 2020 05:55
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jamal posted:There is a pretty narrow range of ideal saddle height and it definitely has nothing do with being able to put your feet on the ground. You don't want your knees fully extending either. It's something like 25-30 degrees of bend you're shooting for. It's much less than that. Almost straight is usually the right answer, although YMMV https://roadcyclinguk.com/how-to/technique/beginners-guide-how-to-set-your-saddle-height-on-a-road-bike.html
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Sep 20, 2020 06:12
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ExecuDork, if you just get your seat in the ballpark and keep riding, you'll figure out what works over time. Seat height is about the easiest thing to experiment with.
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Sep 20, 2020 07:02
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ExecuDork posted:Today, I rode about 2.5 km just around my local streets. I'm very gradually building up to commuting, which will be about 6 km with a 70 m rise at the work end, according to Google (the university sits on a hill, most of the town is pretty flat). Just my little zip around got my breathing and heart rate up, and my quads feel (very lightly) like they were not getting stretched out enough when I coasted. Man, I really have to be going up a solid hill at this point for me to even breathe out of my mouth. You're going to get there and start looking for longer routes home because that commute's gonna be cutting the fun short too soon. Regarding seat height, yeah you gotta dial it in until you're happy and as long as you're not ducking side to side while pedaling you're fine. I'm sure other people have more advice for how to do that. Biggest headache for me was changing my pedals back to flats and now I can't even figure out where my seat is supposed to be anymore
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Sep 20, 2020 07:03
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ExecuDork posted:I find myself in a disagreement with every bit of advice I've been given in-person on this point - I agree with the OP. I'm taller than most people I know (6 foot 3 / 188 cm) and most of my height is in my legs (103 cm from the hip socket to my heel). My legs have always become rapidly uncomfortable when I have to sit for a long time without the space to extend my legs fully, like airplane seats or the backseat of typical car. When riding a bike I've always preferred being able to fully extend my knee without lifting myself from the seat, though not necessarily on every rotation of the pedals. ExecuDork posted:I took for a test ride, the first real ride ever! Just down the street to the end of the block and back, but I ran through all of the gears and nothing bad happened. Success! How is the saddle height now, and how does the bars' position feel? My gut look at that photo is it's 1, maybe 2 sizes too small.
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Sep 20, 2020 07:28
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The best advice I ever got re: saddle height was to pay attention to your hips. If you have to rock them side to side as part of your pedal stroke, your saddle is too high. You want it about as high as it will go while being easily able to keep your hips still on the saddle. For commuting you might want it a bit lower again than this if it feels more comfortable, but if your hips aren’t rocking you know your saddle isn’t too high at least.
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Sep 20, 2020 11:26
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I'm 5'3 and there's no way I could have the seat low enough for my feet to touch the ground. That would kill my knees. I've gotten very good at kicking-off with a short hop that lands me on my seat and then jumping off a bit to then stand with the seat resting against my lower back at that point. It's the perfect height though. I don't know about math or angles, but I figure you just have to feel it out.
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Sep 20, 2020 11:34
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It's definitely a thing for more casual cyclists to want to be able to put at least a toe down while on the saddle and I guess I learned otherwise long enough ago that I'm unable to coherently explain to people why that's not important / how to stop and start in a saddle-independent way. Maybe it's an issue with balance at low speeds? This extremely-fredly video seems like an ok explanation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNevNqA8sIs
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Sep 20, 2020 18:19
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ImplicitAssembler posted:It's much less than that. Almost straight is usually the right answer, although YMMV Nowhere does this article give a specific knee angle or say "almost straight." The straight leg thing mentioned is with your heel on the pedal, not as you would actually ride it. And apparently that 25-30 degree thing is the older method taking static angles. While actually pedaling it tends to be more than that due to ankle movement and stuff. Here's a guy talking a little about that and showing it with video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7HE4ogNlbY
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Sep 20, 2020 18:51
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Thufir posted:It's definitely a thing for more casual cyclists to want to be able to put at least a toe down while on the saddle and I guess I learned otherwise long enough ago that I'm unable to coherently explain to people why that's not important / how to stop and start in a saddle-independent way. Maybe it's an issue with balance at low speeds? This extremely-fredly video seems like an ok explanation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNevNqA8sIs That's not quite my method but it's more or less the same. I'd consider myself a rather casual cyclist, like I can go for long distances today, but I'm not a racer or anything like that. I'm just short!
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Sep 20, 2020 19:16
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Yeah I do the thing where I can at least put the ball of one foot down, but my legs are long so the angle ends up being okay for my knees. I do pretty much only utility cycling, so there’s lot of stopping and I guess it just feels safer 
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Sep 20, 2020 22:13
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Sheldon Brown is great, his website has a bunch of tips for idiots like me (and other pages for more knowledgeable people), though some of it feels a little outdated. That video in particular was a lightbulb moment, my previous method was super wobbly so I tried to avoid intersections knowing I'd rather get off and walk across if I had to stop. Not even sure how I did it now, probably push off with tiptoes then hope to find the pedals before I fell over.
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Sep 20, 2020 22:45
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I'm going to just play around with it and figure out what's comfortable. Watching the video Jamal posted, I just sit here thinking "No! I want a STRAIGHTER leg, not more knee flex. Straighter!". I only watched the first 5 minutes or so, and the narrator is tossing around numbers like 30 degrees as a knee angle that's probably close to what you want. Personally, I think I'll be more comfortable at 10 or even 5 degrees, I really like the feeling of straightening my leg. Basically, yes:marshalljim posted:ExecuDork, if you just get your seat in the ballpark and keep riding, you'll figure out what works over time. Seat height is about the easiest thing to experiment with. The point by Jesus WEP about hip movement is excellent. Something for me to watch out for in case my straight-leg thing is really some weird delusion. This brings me to the saddle. I saw some advice upthread about not getting one of those cushy gel covers for a saddle, in many cases a narrower saddle is going to be more comfortable. The saddle I got from the tip shop was not the saddle mounted on my frankenbike when I pulled it out of the back area, out of the spiderwebs (reminder:  so the spiders are a real concern) into the sunshine. That one was narrower and in OK shape but the shaft (dunno the proper name, the metal tube that fits almost-vertically into the bike frame) was very short and there was no way I could get it high enough. I found the saddle I have in a pile of miscellaneous parts in a decaying cardboard box. Anyway, like most of the rest of the bike I'll work with what I have until I hate it, then look for an upgrade. kimbo305 posted:This is the bike, right?: If bikes come larger than what I've got, they don't end up at the tip. I found the largest frame they had that was part of an assembled, complete bike. I was worried about this, but for my budget (as close to free as is at all possible), this is what was available. It feels OK, but I've never ridden an expensive bike and I've never tried to set things up better than "this doesn't feel bad" so I don't know what it might feel like with a very different geometry. Mostly, my riding a desk for 3 months of working from home (and more than a year of just walking, nothing more strenuous) and my resulting low cardiovascular fitness is what I feel when I ride the bike. Mauser posted:Man, I really have to be going up a solid hill at this point for me to even breathe out of my mouth. You're going to get there and start looking for longer routes home because that commute's gonna be cutting the fun short too soon.
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Sep 21, 2020 02:30
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Knee hypoextension isn't really a thing that exists, so I'll disagree with anyone implying that you'll kill your knees with too low of a saddle. You are going to kill your power / efficiency though.
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Sep 21, 2020 03:57
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ExecuDork posted:That's the bike, and the seat is at that height, I think. Any chance you could pedal it in a pic or video?
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Sep 21, 2020 04:02
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Not anytime soon, but I'll try to remember for after the vacation I'm taking this week / weekend. There's still a lot of tuning and adjusting to happen on that bike, I'm in no hurry and it's currently a fun weekend thing to mess around with it. Before I can commute with it (besides the physical fitness), I need to pick up a good lock, some fenders, and a couple of other things. On the topic of locks, is a good U-lock still the standard? At home, the bike goes in the garage (locked, separate from house). At work, there's a bike rack in front of the building that's a set of four big steel bent tubes bolted into the concrete pad. So, not perfect but I think pretty good. The further away bike in this picture has been there for months. I suspect the owner left it there when most of us started working from home in late March / early April, and they just haven't come back for it yet. Spring time is just getting going here - the weather has been lovely for the past few days - but I know several people who do not bike in the "winter" here.  Bike rack by Martin Brummell, on Flickr
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Sep 21, 2020 04:13
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Congrats, you live/work in an area that doesn’t have much bike theft, and the bike rack area looks somewhat obscured. And yes, a u-lock is preferred.
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Sep 21, 2020 04:48
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Can I get some recommendations for a USB rechargeable headlight that's available in the US? Preferably under $100. I've had two Light & Motion lights fail on me in two years. One didn't survive getting wet and the I think the other one's battery died from being left in the cold too often.
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Sep 21, 2020 15:57
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Cygolite Ranger or Metro, make sure you get a version that uses micro USB. The older ones used mini USB which was annoying.
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Sep 21, 2020 16:03
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https://www.kryptonitelock.com/en/bicycle-lights.html I'm not sure which one specifically I have but it's worked well so far. Bought it over a year ago, but it's only seen a few months of use, and none of which was in the dead of winter. e; I think it was the Street F-500, which is around $50 on a quick google search. That price sounds right. It's definitely been in the rain though just fine. Sab669 fucked around with this message at 16:09 on Sep 21, 2020 |
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Sep 21, 2020 16:05
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Copper Vein posted:Can I get some recommendations for a USB rechargeable headlight that's available in the US? Preferably under $100. Bontrager Ion Elite R.
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Sep 21, 2020 16:05
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Copper Vein posted:Can I get some recommendations for a USB rechargeable headlight that's available in the US? Preferably under $100. I purchased a front/rear combo from Lezyne recently, I'm liking it so far. https://www.amazon.com/LEZYNE-HECTO-Drive-500XL-Pair/dp/B07TDB9SQS
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Sep 22, 2020 02:17
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Seat height chat is giving me anxiety, I just assume mine is fine since I don't notice it. Do you guys wear regular clothes to bike or do you carry a change with you? I gave up having a car and now work from home like the rest of the world. I bike everywhere that isn't far enough to need a train. I'm noticing my trousers are starting to get wear in the seat region and I don't want to put holes in good clothes. Is there a type of seat that's more gentle or should I just throw on old jeans to go places and accept buttholes as a consequence of my new lifestyle? (Edited out pic of my jeans. I figure the thread doesn't need to see my crotch wear unless there's some burden of proof needed or it would give info on my current seat which is just an old Gazelle accessory that's starting to crack)
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Sep 22, 2020 12:45
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If you haven't already you can start buying jeans with a bit of stretchiness for more longevity & comfort. Levi's Commuters are the usual recommendation but people say they've gone down in quality. I get Wrangler Larstons (2% elastane) for £40 in TKMaxx. If I'm going over, say, 10 miles, I wear polyester/spandex hiking pants because jeans are just a bit sweaty and chafey on longer rides.
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Sep 22, 2020 13:37
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I carry a change of clothes with me (in the beforetimes). My commute is pretty long and the likelihood of rain is too high much of the year to get away with riding in my work clothes. If you have the space at work to store things, you can ride in with a week's worth of clothes at the beginning of the week so you aren't carrying clothes every day, and even just leaving some things there entirely (shoes are bulky and heavy, for example, and belts are annoying to forget).
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Sep 22, 2020 13:56
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bicievino posted:I carry a change of clothes with me (in the beforetimes). My commute is pretty long and the likelihood of rain is too high much of the year to get away with riding in my work clothes. This is what I would do. On Mondays I would bring in a bigger bag of clothes for the week, a towel, and a washcloth. Come Friday I would take the towel and washcloth home and repeat the cycle. Shoes, belt, toiletries, etc. all just stayed at work.
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Sep 22, 2020 14:03
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I can't imagine biking in jeans. Denim is so uncomfortable.
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Sep 22, 2020 14:18
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As ever it's dependent on distance/effort/riding posture. 2 miles in a relatively upright posture, not aiming for KOMs is a breeze in denim. And you arrive at the bar looking not like a total dorkus.
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Sep 22, 2020 14:33
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Al2001 posted:As ever it's dependent on distance/effort/riding posture. 2 miles in a relatively upright posture, not aiming for KOMs is a breeze in denim. And you arrive at the bar looking not like a total dorkus. Showing up at the bar in bright colors and with the outline of my dong visible through my shorts is how I make my best impressions, though.
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Sep 22, 2020 14:56
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It's a biker bar, what else are you supposed to show up in 
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Sep 22, 2020 15:21
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bicievino posted:Showing up at the bar in bright colors and with the outline of my dong visible through my shorts is how I make my best impressions, though. I'm a cycling instructor, and my boss has to specify to new recruits not to turn up at primary schools like this. Roadie culture is a helluva drug.
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Sep 22, 2020 15:49
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I just wear regular pants that are softer than jeans 
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Sep 22, 2020 15:54
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I once tried to wear this pair of linen shorts that I own while riding, but the fabric just kept slapping my balls every time it went taut
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Sep 22, 2020 16:06
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Fitzy Fitz posted:I just wear regular pants that are softer than jeans Good idea. Sorry if I seemed defensive. In any cycling forum, there are people who don't think you're doing it right unless you're head to toe in cycling-specific gear. The OP sums it up nicely tbh quote:Do I need to dress like a dork? Up to you. Shorter commutes, definitely not. Long commutes, you might feel a lot more comfy.
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Sep 22, 2020 16:17
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Al2001 posted:I'm a cycling instructor, and my boss has to specify to new recruits not to turn up at primary schools like this. Roadie culture is a helluva drug. Like spin cycling? Cycling coach? Who are the recruits in this case?
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Sep 22, 2020 17:52
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I definitely need to go with sports-wear. I wear basketball or soccer shorts, and running or soccer shirts, whatever I wore when I ran, I now wear to work and just put a change of clothes in my saddle-bags. I sweat heavily in normal situations, and I'm a hot mess after I bike, so better let my sports clothes deal with it. I'll probably wear heavier jackets once winter sets in, but I'll probably be able to get away with wearing shorts even in the dead of winter (it never really hits freezing here), since I'm just constantly warm. It has a couple of weird side-effects besides the obvious comfort and keeping cool. People seem to think I'm a serious cyclist, which in Paris translates into an rear end in a top hat, so people will A) either get out of my way if I'm coming from behind, even though I only pass when there's proper space and clearance otherwise, I don't pass nor do I stay on their rear end, so this makes me feel bad or B) think I'm going to be a speeding rear end in a top hat so they stay close behind me to take advantage of that, and invariably get angry with me when I don't end up going super-fast. Seriously, though I never suffered from road-rage, and I love driving and traffic jams don't phase me in the slightest, but these loving people are really riling me up. Paris is a big city and I guess cliché dictates that people just be more aggressive than normal but it's so freaking annoying. Just today this lady tries to pass on a really narrow path, and I just tell her patience, she snaps back and just goes on running me onto the sidewalk. And of course when there's good long and wide straight-away soon afterwards I zoom right past her. Or how an off-duty ambulance decides to almost hit me in a bus lane it's not supposed to be in, because I'm not completely to the right of the lane since there's a car trying to peek into it. And to gain how many meters that I eventually re-coup anyway? I'm sorry for venting, but wow. People are assholes.
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Sep 22, 2020 17:57
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kimbo305 posted:Like spin cycling? Cycling coach? Who are the recruits in this case? In the UK we have cycling instructors that teach kids at school how to ride safely on the road etc. and also run classes for adults. Guessing he means new instructors when he says recruits.  They don't give out these cool badges anymore though RIP
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Sep 22, 2020 18:00
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kemikalkadet posted:In the UK we have cycling instructors that teach kids at school how to ride safely on the road etc. and also run classes for adults. Guessing he means new instructors when he says recruits. I have a friend in London who doesn't know how to bike and is thinking about learning. I don't know if he's aware about these services, are they common knowledge, and if not do you have a link I can send him?
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Sep 22, 2020 18:30
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